The Sierra Club names four major potential sources of carbon pollution that, if developed, it says could alter the world’s climate. Dirty Fuels, Clean Fuels is a new report that says developing just a fraction of the energy in these areas would cancel out the United States’ accomplishments in the fight against climate disruption, including the Obama administration’s new fuel economy standards.
The oil, gas and coal from these potential sources, including the Arctic Ocean, the Green River Formation, the Powder River Basin, and the Monterey, San Juan Basin and Marcellus shale plays, have the potential to release billions of tons of new carbon pollution into the atmosphere, the group said.
Developing just one of these sites, the Arctic Ocean, for example would result in two-and-a-half times more pollution than would be saved by the new fuel economy standards.
The report calls on the Obama administration to consider climate pollution, like other dangerous air and water pollution, before projects move forward.